A chronological development of mechanical, anti-theft devices is contained in the Background sections of both Johnson and Wu patents which are incorporated by reference herein and the reader is advised to review those patents for a more thorough description of the prior art than that which will be presented in the specifications hereof. Suffice it to simply note that vehicular anti-theft devices of the type to which this invention relates are those in which a protruding portion of the device extends beyond the periphery of the steering wheel (to which the device is attached) to prevent continued rotation of the steering wheel by the protrusion interfering with or contacting something within the interior of the vehicle. The vehicle is not totally disabled by the device but nevertheless rendered unsuitable for driving because the steering wheel cannot be rotated any significant degree.
The Johnson patent describes a device marketed under the brand name "THE CLUB" which has enjoyed significant commercial success within and outside the United States. This success is attributed in part to the telescoping rod-sleeve nature of the device in combination with a key actuated lock which utilizes a ball detent to permit the serrated rod to ratchet out from the sleeve or tube member into an applied position on the steering wheel. The Johnson device has received wide-spread commercial success and is entirely satisfactory. However, it has a relatively secure, positive lock which requires rotation of a cylindrical, half-moon locking member into one of a plurality of serrated grooves formed in the rod to lock the device. While the Johnson lock is positive and somewhat secure, THE CLUB, nevertheless, requires that a key be inserted into the lock so that the device can be applied to the steering wheel as well as removed from the steering wheel when the driver wants to operate the vehicle.
The Wu patented device marketed under the brand name, SUPER CLUB, has also achieved widespread commercial success. The SUPER CLUB is conceptually similar to THE CLUB but has a lock which permits the device to be applied, from a collapsed position to the steering wheel of the vehicle without having to actuate the key lock. This feature is a convenience to the operator of the vehicle. That is, after the driver stops the car and removes the keys from the ignition, he applies the anti-theft device to the steering wheel. Having placed the keys into his pocket (or her purse), it is somewhat inconvenient to retrieve the keys to "unlock" the device so that it can be applied to the steering wheel of the vehicle and then "lock" the device after it is applied to the steering wheel. (Note, this "inconvenience" is not present when the device is to be removed since the driver already has taken out the keys to start the vehicle.) The SUPER CLUB provides a locking arrangement which achieves this objective. It permits the operator, without actuation of any key, to simply pull, or telescope, or ratchet the rod out of the sleeve or tube from a collapsed position to an extended or applied position in which the hooks from the rod and sleeve grasp the rim of the steering wheel in the conventional manner.
As the popularity of the SUPER CLUB and THE CLUB have grown, automotive thieves have become more cognizant or familiar with such devices as well as the countless imitations which are now on the market. It is, of course, well recognized that any anti-theft device can be defeated and that any accomplished thief can break into and steal any automobile no matter how sophisticated the anti-theft device applied to that automobile may be. Accordingly, it is a primary objective of any anti-theft device that the security of the device be established or set at a level which establishes a sufficient degree of "resistance" to deter professional car thieves from stealing a vehicle which is equipped with the anti-theft device. With respect to THE CLUB and the SUPER CLUB, the device is made of hardened steel so that it cannot be readily cut. The device uses a telescoped arrangement to prevent or minimize pry points which could otherwise be leveraged or utilized to remove the device from the steering wheel. Similarly, the mechanical arrangement in which the lock tumbler is positioned within the anti-theft device prevents or affords a significant degree of resistance to it's being removed or pried from the device. To defeat the device, the steering wheel rim has to be severed and even in this regard, the assignee has procured patents designed to prevent severing the steering wheel rim.
Notwithstanding such measures, for anti-theft devices utilizing designs of the lock type employed in the SUPER CLUB device, where the slack between rod and sleeve is taken up by a spring biased pawl which also functions as the key actuated locking mechanism, it has been discovered that in some instances, it is possible to "pick" the lock by conventional burglar tools. The procedure is to essentially wedge a burglar pick or shim between the spring biased ratchet pawl and the ratchet "tooth" in the rod member which receives the pawl to force the pawl to be wedged or retracted back into its bore thus permitting the rod to move relative to the sleeve. In this manner, it is conceptually possible to retract or push the rod member into the tube member and remove the device from the steering wheel.